Atletico Madrid’s form requires Juventus’ full focus, admits Claudio Marchisio, who also plays down previous recent European disappointments.
With the teams qualifying from Group A of the Champions League to be decided in tomorrow evening's games, Juve host Atletico needing a draw to guarantee passage, and a win by two goals for top spot.
Atletico Madrid’s form requires Juventus’ full focus, admits Claudio Marchisio, who also plays down previous recent European disappointments.
With the teams qualifying from Group A of the Champions League to be decided in tomorrow evening's games, Juve host Atletico needing a draw to guarantee passage, and a win by two goals for top spot.
Midfielder Marchisio, due to start tomorrow, spoke about the Old Lady's opponents in today’s Press conference today and recognised their strength.
“They aren't just strong on set pieces,” said the 28-year-old. “They are a very compact team, very good at defending and countering, they have some players that in these respects can really give us trouble.
“In the first round we showed that we can play against them at the same level, something that isn't easy against the European finalists.
“We see that they come from 11 positive games in the Liga, so they're going through a great moment too.
“They'll be short of two important players [Joao Miranda and Cristian Ansaldi], but they'll be replaced by others who are doubtlessly at their level.
“And we saw in the first round how one mistake by the team – not by an individual – can lose us a match that we could have drawn.
“So against a team like Atletico we can't lower our concentration for a single second.”
Juventus have a reputation for underperforming in Europe by comparison with Serie A, but Marchisio does not appreciate this suggestion.
“I don't like to hear that we do worse in Europe, because the first year that we qualified for the continent we reached the quarter-finals.
“Last year we crashed out at the group stage, but we reached the semi-finals of the Europa League, which is still a very important result.
“This year we're here and we're about to play a game to qualify for the Last 16, so if we can make it then it means there's been another improvement this year.
“We know how important this game is, how much it's worth for us and for the season. That, and not the past, is all we have to think about.”